Religious Studies students went on a trip to the BCC (Birmingham Christian Centre) to attend a philosophical conference - one of a series entitled “Being and Nothingness”, produced by a company called “Candle Conferences”. The event was hosted by Dr Peter Vardy, with the guest speaker Dr Stephen Law.
The day consisted of a series of invigorating lectures. These included Dr Peter Vardy (pictured below) speaking on the cosmological and teleological arguments for the existence of God, and on the nature of the omnipotence of the God of Classical Theism. These also included a lecture by Dr Stephen Law on atheism, covering the different kinds of atheism, atheistic arguments against the existence of God (focussing on the Evil God Challenge), atheistic morality, and the atheistic view on the question of the meaning of life.
The entire day was concluded with an open debate and discussion section, wherein aspiring philosophers in the audience were given the chance to propose their own arguments relevant to the question of the existence of God and finishing with a vote in favour or against the existence of God, based upon the arguments given. Finally, Dr Vardy gave a short talk on why the question of whether or not God exists is important, and how this answer reflects on morality and ethics.
The day was very refreshing and intriguing, raising interesting questions on the fundamental question of the existence of God. It was very well organised, and was given in such a way as to complement and support the topics we had already covered in the classroom, whilst simultaneously extending beyond Advanced Level and tackling propositions and arguments raised at higher levels of philosophy. The event was exciting, educational and all-round excellent – a brilliant opportunity for students of Religious Studies to expand upon their learning and discover more about philosophy.
